Keywords: steel structures, frame, infilled frame, brickwork, lateral stiffness, masonry panel, infilled wall.

The infill walls formed from the architectural requirements of the structures change the statically and dynamic characteristics of the structural system and contribute to the strength and rigidity of the structures positively in the earthquake zones, especially when they are located among the frames. They increase the resistance of the structure against the earthquake and absorb significant amount of energy with shears and frictions at the wall-frame joints, crushing at the compression corners of the wall and the cracks and deformations at the bond joints. Therefore, in examining the behaviour of the composite frame structures formed with the contribution of the infill walls under horizontal loads, the determinations of load-displacement relationships and the types of the deformations and failures are important[1,2].

Because of the reasons like the difficulty and complexity in the calculation of wall-frame system and not having a reliable and practical calculation method, the influences of the infill walls on the behaviour of the structures under horizontal loads have been neglected in the calculations. This neglection can be in favour of safety, but sometimes it can produce big mistakes and unnecessary structural arrangements and details. However, how the infill walls effect the behaviour of the structural systems and how much they contribute positively or negatively, have not been produced and new calculation models could not be formed yet[3].

However, in general, it is known that the infilled frames have more strength and rigidity than the empty frames. The completed studies are in the early stage of development and there couldn't be formed any standard for the frame calculation. The window and door openings on the infill walls decrease the rigidity and strength of the infilled frames, however, the infilled frame structures having openings are more flexible and ductile than the infilled frames having no openings [4].

In this study, a series of experimental results made on the behaviour of steel frame series having single floor and single span infill walls, were evaluated in order to take into consideration the influence of infill walls on statically calculations of frame practically and include local parameters into the calculation models suggested in the literature [5].

For this reason, loading conditions, material properties, thickness and type of infill, plaster, cross-section areas and dimensions of the tensile and compression parts were selected as main variables and the failure load of the infilled frame system and its effects on the behaviour before failure were investigated according to the experimental results [5].

Also, by making finite elements modelling, the numerical solutions were made by SAP90 computer program and compared with the experimental results [5].

1

U. Ersoy, S. Uzsoy, E. Aktan, "Behaviour and Strength of Infilled Frames, Ankara, TUBITAK, PROGE MAG-205, 1971.

2

Klinger, R.E. and Bertero, V.V., "Infilled Frames in Earthquake Resistant Construction", Report No. EERC 76-32, Earthquake Engineering Research Center, University of California, Berkeley, Calif. 1976.

3

Axley, J.W. and Bertero, V.V., "Infill Panels: Their Influence on Seismic Response of Building", Report No. EERC 79-28, Earthquake Engineering Research Center, University of California, Berkeley, California, U.S.A., 1976.

4

M. Holmes, "Steel Frames with and Concrete Infilling", Proceeding of I.C.E., 19, 473-478, 1961. doi:10.1680/iicep.1961.11305

5

Karaduman, A., "The Effects of Fill Walls to the Behaviour of Frames under Horizontal Loads", Ph.D. Thesis, Selcuk University Institute of Natural and Applied Sciences, Konya, Turkey, 1998.

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